Fri., May 1, 2009 12:00 P.M
.- It remains drizzly and dreary outside. Will the rain ever end? This
is going to put a damper on trail building tomorrow. Rain remains in
the forecast.

Sat., May 2, 2009 5:30 A.M.- What do I do? I’m torn between helping
with church clean-up day and trail building.

7:00 A.M.
- I made the decision to go to the church clean-up.

9:00 A.M.
- Frannie, Danielle and I spent the few hours removing leaves from under
bushes, pulling weeds, trimming bushes, and spreading mulch. The sun
came out and the temperature is rising…this is turning out to
be a good day.

12:00 P.M.
- We hopped into the truck and headed back to Winchester. Called Doug
Watret on the way to see if he might be able to spare a crew. He would
see what he could do.

12:30 P.M.
- Arrived at home, aired up tires and loaded Larry Laredo on the trailer.
Danielle and Frannie hopped into Tillie TJ and we were off to Pike County
to see what we could do on Lakeshore Drive to get ready for the Safari.
On the way to the trail, passed a group of men riding their horses- Danielle
said she would like to be on her horse riding with them.

1:00 P.M.
- Arrive at trailer parking area, unloaded Larry and Frannie took off
her doors (the sun is still out). Called Doug to check status. Carey
LeVoy and kids, Sean Hartman and Jake Watret, Jim and Angel Linseth,
and Dave Boomer were on their way to help us out. While waiting on them
to arrive, a gentleman comes along on his four-wheeler. Come to find
out he is a local landowner whose land is adjacent to land we currently
have permission to run on. Chatted with him until the rest of the crew
arrived, doesn’t hurt to keep the door open for future options.

1:30 P.M.
- The others arrived. We headed to one of the landowners house. About
a month ago, while clearing a new section of trail, we came across a
cedar tree down across the creek. A club member that was with us said
that he liked to work with wood and would like to have a log. I told
him that he could have one, but he had to do something for the landowner.
At the recovery training, he arrived with a cedar bowl he had made for
the landowner using the cedar log from her land. He happened to be with
us, so I told the story to the landowner and Boomer presented her with
the beautiful bowl he had made. She graciously accepted the bowl and
was anxious to display it in her home. What a good feeling to be able
to thank our landowners through the talents of our club members. We spoke
about a new section of trail we wanted to explore. The landowner said
that it would be fine to see what we could do with this section.

2:00 P.M.
- We hopped into the creek and headed to the area in need of investigating,
but had to stop along the way. The rain that had fallen over the last
several days, left a beautiful waterfall in the creek, what a breathtaking
view! It’s hard to believe that such things exist in central Illinois.
We arrived at the new area. Everyone started hiking up the creek. We
immediately came across a small “cave” in a rock ledge. Without
hesitation, the crew cleared a path next to it in no time. We then continued
on, finding many interesting features that would be awesome additions
to the trail. After a while we came to a fence row indicating a property
line. We didn’t know if it was a landowner that we already had
permission to run on their land in another area or if it was the man
we met earlier in the afternoon. We continued hiking to see what we could
find. We found a good exit from this area that would tie in nicely with
the rest of the trail. We headed back to the Jeeps to investigate the
lay of the land according to the plat map. In the meantime, Cory had
called after work and would be heading to the trail in Zar’roc
the ZJ.

3:30 P.M.
- I discovered that the land in question belonged to the landowner we
already have permission to run on. I headed back to the truck to get
the phone number to call the landowner and sent the rest of the crew
to run part of the existing trail while they waited for me to return.
Cory arrived as I was getting ready to head back, so he tried the section
next to the cave to see how well a ZJ fit. He then followed them up a
hill climb. Apparently he got stuck, guess we should actually put the
new tires on the Jeep. By the time they had winched Cory up the hill,
using the proper techniques that had been learned in the recovery course,
I had returned with permission to cut the next section of trail. This
day keeps getting better and better!

4:00 P.M.
- The crew hiked down the creek clearing the trail quickly, we really
had a great crew with us! Everyone was willing to stay to see what the
trail would be like once it was cleared.

4:45 P.M.
- Time to drive the trail. We had cleared a really cool rock area to
go around part of the creek. At this section, we found the name for this
portion of the trail---“Let’s get loud.” Cory had some
trouble in going up this rocky section (about those tires..). In trying
to back down and try again, he ended up with the exhaust system wrapped
around the rear axle. We had to make a quick trail removal and Cory was
soooo upset that he finally got dad to take the quiet muffler off (yeah
right, he was grinning from ear to ear). There is also a bypass for this
area of the trail for those with less than desirable tires. There were
not any further issues and this section is just beautiful, I can’t
wait to run it at the Safari!

5:15 P.M.
- We exited the trail and made our way back to the trailer and to pick
up Tillie’s doors. The men riding the horses earlier in the day
happened to ride by again, this time stopping. Of course, horse girl
Danielle had to go over and engage them in conversation. This ended up
with three of the guys hopping off their horses and letting the kids
have a little ride on the horses. While the children took turns riding,
the grown-ups visited with these local gentlemen. Come to find out, they
are the “Pike County Possum Ropers” and were out on a ride
for a bachelor party for one of the fellows. What a great end to a wonderful
day! The kids were smiling, the adults were smiling, the trail was ready
for the Safari, the weather was still sunny and warm and Pike County
has some very hospitable residents! This is what it is all about!

5:45 P.M.
- Well, the Possum Ropers had to get back to the bachelor party…I
do not think their evening was over yet. We were all of to Pittsfield
to grab some dinner since we had worked up a good appetite. The entire
crew from Lakeshore met up with Charlie Ater and Doug Watret at Maya’s
Mexican Restaurant in Pittsfield for some delicious food and great stories
about the day. The kids were tired and hungry, some more tired than hungry,
but I think they all had a good day. They were just rethinking their
wet pants from walking in the creek as they were sitting in the air conditioned
restaurant. Thank you to all of our crew that has helped get Lakeshore
back up and going again, I look forward to sharing the trail with others
at the events. And thanks to all of those willing to stay late to allow
us to be in two places on the same day! We had a GREAT day and hope everyone
else did as well. I would also like to extend a very special thank you
to the landowners, without them this type of experience would not be
possible for us enjoy!